No Time Left
by SparklingSibuna
Summary: In that one, sinking moment, she felt everything drain from her body. She felt the spark of hope she had been holding onto, deep within her heart, extinguish. And worst of all, she saw her most cherished of memories as they flashed through her mind , accompanied by the knowledge that she would never have the chance to make new ones. She would never be able to go home again.


**This one-shot may be short and roughly written, but I hope that the sentiment rings loud and clear. It truly made me cry. I full-heartedly believe that somewhere, alone in America, is a high-schooler named Nina Martin, who may be sobbing her heart out at any given moment. There is no joy or comedy in this drabble, but I feel that that makes it all the more realistic, because there's probably not too much joy or comedy in Nina's life right now, either.**

* * *

_45, 44, 43…_

The seconds ticked by.

_42, 41, 40…_

And as the seconds ticked by, she found herself unable to tear her eyes from the clock.

_39, 38, 37…_

She raised a hand.

_36, 35, 34…_

"Yes, Nina?" asked her history teacher. She swallowed the hard lump that had formed in her throat.

_33, 32, 31…_

"May I use the restroom?" It was vital that she reached the privacy of a bathroom stall before she fell entirely apart.

_30, 29, 28…_

"Yes, quickly," replied the teacher, turning around to face the chalkboard once again.

_27, 26, 25…_

She nearly jumped to her feet in her haste to escape. Her feet carried her blindly out of the classroom, filled with far too many judgmental eyes, and across the hall.

_24, 23, 22…_

She pushed open the heavy door and hurriedly checked beneath the stalls for any signs of occupancy. Evidently, there were still _some _gods on her side, because the bathroom was entirely empty.

_21, 20, 19…_

She shoved open one of the stall doors and stepped inside.

_18, 17, 16…_

As if in a daze, she glanced at her wristwatch.

_15, 14, 13…_

She then slid the door's lock into place, blocking the rest of the world out of the tiny cubicle of privacy she had managed to secure.

_12, 11, 10…_

There was still time. It hadn't happened yet. There was still time.

_9, 8, 7…_

There was still time to fix everything that had gone wrong. There was still time for her to join them. The end wasn't here yet. Nothing had been finalized yet. There was still time.

_6, 5, 4…_

As those last, blissful moments drew to a close, she let her eyes slide shut. Instantaneously, a deluge of memories seemed to overwhelm, burning white-hot and brilliant, as they so often did when she was alone. And she was always alone these days.

_3, 2, 1…_

How had she let everything turn out this way? How was it that the most important moment of their lives was about to begin, and she couldn't even be there with them, standing among her one true family as she so deserved to be? She couldn't even be there to support them, as a member of the crowd. There were no words to describe the sense of hopelessness, of complete loss of all direction, that engulfed her in that moment. The last second before the end- the beginning for them, but the end for her- truly began.

_0…_

That was it. It had officially begun. She was missing the event she had sworn she wouldn't miss for all the world. And with that realization, the tears began to fall, thick and fast and uncontrollable. Her body slammed against the door, and she slid to the tiled floor, a living example of a person who has lost everything that they were supposed to be. A living, breathing instance of what can happen to a person when they are torn so callously form what they love.

Everything seemed to flash before her, as she lay in a crumpled heap on the bathroom floor that morning. From the very first hello, to the heart-wrenching goodbyes that she hadn't been able to find the words to say. The laughter still echoed in her ears. The terror still clutched at her heart. She could still feel their loyalty, the only thing keeping her above water. But with each memory came a fresh onslaught of tears. _If only she had been there…_

A week or so ago, against her better judgment, she had persuaded herself to visit her school's webpage. Not the school she currently attended. No, this place was more of a prison she had been forced to return to. The webpage she had convinced herself to peruse was that of the academy she would always refer to as "her school". As their school.

As soon as she had typed in the web address, she wished she hadn't. For there, in bright, bold letters for the world to see, was the word which made her want to tear her heart out of her chest.

_**GRADUATION**_

They were leaving. They were walking out the doors, never to return. They were packing their bags and driving away to rest of their lives. They were graduating.

Without her.

Ever since that day, she had been fooling herself into believing that she would be standing right there beside them, accepting her diploma with the rest of her housemates. She had been deceiving herself into thinking that she would hear Mara's valedictorian speech, live and in person. She had truly believed, if only for a short time, that nothing had changed. That she would be there, where she belonged.

But life didn't work that way.

* * *

**Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Completely and utterly despise it? Let me know, if you would like to do so. Honestly, I'm not really sure how it turned out, but it felt raw and emotional in my mind. Have a nice evening!  
Sibuna **


End file.
